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Shepherd Chimururi
Interactive Youth Correspondent
The implementation of radio and social media platforms based online lessons meant to break the Covid-19 inspired barriers that separate teachers and students, is a move that must be welcomed by all progressive educationists, parents and above all the knowledge hungry learners.
However, there is one key ingredient that has been missing in the recipe to make the menu fully appetising, tasty and nourishing.
While superlative compliments must continue to be showered to all teachers and other stakeholders who are facilitating online lessons via radio programmes, WhatsApp and other social media platforms, in the midst of the new lockdown, they need to be honestly reminded that formative assessment is the missing ingredient.
In simple layman terms, the marking of the work and teacher’s feedback has not been efficient at most and at worst it has been non existing.
According to www.edglossary.org formative assessment refers to a wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit or course.
Without beating about the bush, student education loses its value the moment there is no marking, no authoritative instruction from the teacher, without the teacher’s encouraging comment and when it is devoid of the challenging total from the teacher. It tastes flat like tea without sugar. Everyone who was once a student understands and appreciates the magic of the traditional red pen tick, the star and the super magic words like ‘V. Good’, ‘Well Done’ and ‘Excellent’.
Of course, the terms ‘Put more effort,’ ‘Very Poor’, ‘See me’, always brewed the dreaded nightmare and a good measure of embarrassment.
Online lessons without formative assessment are in vain as teachers have no way of telling whether the students are understanding the concepts and worse still they have no way of knowing how to adjust. No matter the level of education assessment is a key part of the learning process.
However, assessment in the context of online lessons means digitalisation of content and automation of the assignments, tests and exams. Self marking programmes do the trick.
Sadly, majority of online educationists are neglecting this area or have not yet mastered the skill.
Computerised self making apps are the water that is able to douse the simmering flames of tension between teachers and parents with the later accusing the former of offloading their teaching responsibilities to them. It is true in some sense as the parents seem to be doing more as they are now the technology assistants, readers, communicators, markers, motivators, disciplinarians, assignment assistants, photographers and interpreters all rolled into one.
One classic example of self grading apps is Google Classroom which allows the teacher to quickly create formative assessment tests, quizzes and provides with an instant grading system to visualize results data among other tools. Nevertheless, it is an open secret that Google Classroom is exclusionary in nature as majority of parents can not afford the cost of data nor have access to the high speeds of internet required to spin it.
No matter the circumstances, students’ work needs to be marked and graded for motivation and affirmation.
Meaningful honest textual comments linger in the mind of the students as a well as the voice of the teacher.
Automated audio feedback like clapping of hands or a recorded cheer is a space craft that sends students to the seventh heaven of educational ecstasy.
The big questions are what inspires a child listening to online radio lessons to work hard to complete the whole assignment which he or she knows no one will mark and who marks the work, assesses and rates the child and certify the student ready for exams when the parent or guardian is illiterate? However, this is a massive opportunity for local techprenuers to develop home grown cheap and accessible e-learning platforms that allows teachers to create fun and engaging interactive lessons for tablets and computers in our local languages. The content can vary in form to cover quizzes, crosswords, multiple choice, word fill and worksheets.
The key ingredients in all this must be colourful presentation, lively audio instructions, timing, self marking, calculation of test scores, allocation of percentages and grading.
Online Reporter